I never thought being an assistant coach for my son’s six-year-old hockey team would be easy, but there is more to it then I thought!

I have learned many leadership lessons from the experience, and here are my favourites:

Patience – Many of these kids still sleep with teddy bears. They are very young and their development takes time

Encouragement – “High-Fives, pats on the back, and a “great job” goes a long way for their confidence

Focus On The Positive – We tend to focus on what is being done wrong, that we sometimes forget to reward what is being done right

“Sandwich Method” – Put a suggestion for an area of improvement between two positive comments

SMILE – Then laugh with them, and make them feel comfortable. It is truly about having fun, developing skills, and learning what it means to be part of a team

As I was writing this, I realized many of these points can be related to managing in the corporate world, or business in general. At least, I thought I could inspire other coaches who may need some new perspective!

If kids are not inspired by their coaches, there are many other activities that they can do these days. Each interaction with them is critical to building that connection.

Is it time to tweak your coaching, managing or general leading philosophies?

Sometimes as leaders, coaches, or people of influence in general, we over think how to motivate teams.

Several times last year, my son’s hockey team of 4 and 5 year olds had one hour power skating lessons. I was amazed by the instructor’s ability to keep them interested the entire time, even with sessions as early as 6 am on weekends!

This list should seem obvious to us all, but how many of these simple points do we miss with those that we lead?

Smile, encourage and be enthusiastic

Have fun and make them laugh

Know the audience, relate to them on their level

Be engaging – ask great questions that they will be eager to answer

Fully explain what you want them to do. Leave nothing to the imagination

I have had the good fortune to correspond with Richard from time to time over the past year. I also read his blog when time permits.

This post caught my attention over the weekend. If anyone is thinking about owning a business, is attempting to “live the entrepreneurial dream, or wants a great read, this post is for you! Check out how Richard eloquently describes the need for a business coach.

What is your intention and objective? What rationale are you using to determine your tenacity to reach your purpose? Is your resolution resolute? Will your commitment and resolve match the desire of the want? What are you willing to do to reach your objective?

We all want success. I have never met any person that wanted failure. Sometimes success eludes us and it is difficult to understand and discover what is holding the success from overflowing the cup of wealth and desire. Often opportunities are pushed to the side and forgotten mainly due to our own ignorance to look past our own self absorb opinions. We live in this circle of what we know that binds and hinders our willingness to seek opportunities outside our realm of vision and beliefs.

Recent Posts

Categories

Learn more click ”pic”!

Dynamic and energized sales rep, mentor and leader since 1999. This blog will be about sales, social networking, personal branding, leadership, music and having some laughs! Don’t be surprised if I mix it up on occasion though, and talk about something totally different! I thrive on being part of successful, forward thinking teams. I am ready to go from the moment my feet hit the floor each morning, with the expectation that new adventures will be coming my way. It is rare that there isn't a smile on my face, as I take it all in, and have some fun along the way!